As the use of electronic media to store text, music, pictures, and other types of data grows and the restrictions on data storage capacities lessen, computer users find themselves faced with enormous numbers of files to manage. Conventional file systems, such as those based on a file allocation table, or FAT file system, can make management of files difficult. For example, the traditional directory access to files that is provided with conventional file systems assumes that the users wishes to maintain their files in a hierarchical directory tree. However, besides being location dependent, a hierarchical organization may not be the most advantageous way to access the files from the user's point of view.
In the context of the Windows® operating system user interface, one technique for making access to files easier is the shortcut. A shortcut that provides a link to a file may be created on the desktop or in a folder, and is a quick way to start a program or open a file or folder without having to go to its permanent location. But shortcuts may not be reliable since they are not updated to reflect changes in the location or status of the underlying file. For example, moving the file to a different directory results in an error when accessing the shortcut.
Another technique for making access to files easier is the playlist. Media players offer users playlists as a way to organize certain types of files for later playback. For example, in the Windows Media Player®, the playlist contains references to music files for playback through the media player in a designated order. But playlists suffer from the same drawback as shortcuts in that the references in the playlist are not updated to reflect changes in the location or status of the underlying files. If a music file is moved or deleted, the user must hunt through all of his or her playlists to update or remove the outdated references.
Both the shortcut and playlist model of accessing files are further limited by their inability to provide to the user with alternative ways to access items other than through another folder, or in a certain order.